The Walking Dead Things Change Again
by Feedingfrenzy91
Summary: The continuation to the Walking Dead Things change. Set two months after the events of Season 1.
1. Two is a lonely number

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Walking Dead game which is the property of Robert Kirkmen and Telltale games.**

**Here it is. The second season of The Walking Dead things change. Hope you all enjoy it. God bless you all! **

* * *

The countryside seemed almost untouched. Christa's suggestion had been a good one. Stay in an open field, and no walkers can sneak up on you. Not that there were any walkers around who could have sneaked up on the two.

"It's nearly dark. Should we make camp or what?" Asked the woman behind him.

Examining the field, there was a small hill. From up there it was possible to survey the entire area.

"All right let's get to high ground and unpack." Lee said to Molly.

"About time." Came the reply. "My feet are killing me."

* * *

The night was chilly to say the least. It was nearly December; two years ago Lee would be getting his students ready for exams. It was funny. He never thought he'd miss writing papers, or dealing with students who all wanted to know if they could have their term paper deadline extended, the day before it was due. Still, it could have been worst. He could have been dead. Instead he was sitting around a fire, next to a very skilled and attractive Lady.

Lee caught himself for a moment. He was thinking of Molly's beauty again! Just as he did so, the young blonde leaned over and rested her had on his chest, while at the same time moving his right arm out of the way, which ended up wrapped around her torso.

"Uh Molly….." Lee began.

"Relax; I'm just looking for some body heat. It's really cold out here." She stated.

He loosened up. It was cold, and the feeling of her body so close to his did help. Though the inward feeling he got as she lay on his chest was even more heartwarming.

_Stop it Everett He_ thought. It would be a lie to say he and Molly hadn't gotten much closer over the last two months, but as they did Lee couldn't help but think about Lilly. Molly was like forbidden fruit, and he had to do everything he could to resist taking a bite. Though that had gotten harder and harder, and though he wasn't exactly sure it seemed from time to time the young woman made it a little too easy to give in.

This was not the first time; they had cuddled together for warmth. They had no blanket to speak of. A few warm clothes they had scavenged from some cars a few weeks earlier, but nothing that would protect them from the chill of a Georgian winter.

Lee looked up. The stars were shining and the moon was full giving them excellent vision of the area around them.

"Still thinking about that little girl?" Molly asked breaking Lee's train of thought.

"No," He replied "I was just thinking about where we are. It's peaceful."

"That it is." Said Molly. "Haven't seen a walker in while. Maybe you were right; perhaps the cold does something to them."

"Maybe, or maybe there's a bunch of them hiding and waiting for us to let are guard down." Said Lee.

"Are you never satisfied?" Molly jokingly replied.

Lee's grip around her had tightened on its own.

"In any case I thank God for this peaceful time we have right now." Lee said.

Molly didn't reply. Looking down he noticed she had fallen fast asleep within two seconds. Lee moved his arm, and reaching for his backpack, grabbed a large coat and placed it around her. He then grabbed a towel and gently placed her head on it. Shifting slowly, he was able to move from under her. Once doing so he stood up and walked down the hill to a patch of bushes.

Undoing his pants had been a challenge when he first had his arm cut off, but now it was easy as pie. As he relieved himself, Lee looked back to see Molly was still in her lying down position. Not a walker in sight.

*rustle* *rustle*

A sudden noise from the bushes in front of him caused Lee to step back. He zipped his pants back up and reached for the gun which was always in the back of them. He pointed directly at the bushes where the noise had emerged from.

*rustle* *rustle*

Something was definitely in there. Lee backed up slightly, but kept the gone facing forward. The noise had grown closer, and he could now see the bush shaking violently, as whatever was in it emerged.

The cutest little bunny rabbit.

Lee chuckled and gave a sigh of relief as he put his gun away.

"Did you see where it went?" A man's voice suddenly came from the bushed causing Lee to once again pull out his pistol.

"Over here!" Called a different man's voice.

Suddenly from out of the bushes came two men. They both stopped dead in their tracks after noticing Lee's gun, was pointed directly at them.

"uh…..Listen man!" Shouted one. "We don't want any trouble….."

The other one simply stared at Lee; like this wasn't the first time a gun had been pulled on him.

"Neither do I." Lee stated as he loosened his grip, but still kept the pistol pointed in their direction.

"So why don't we start with introductions, and see where it goes from there."

* * *

"Careful now. Just one step at a time." Said Omid as he assisted Christa.

"I'm fine." She insisted. However he had been like this ever since she began to show. Now nearly five months pregnant her body was no longer the tall skinny woman which had left Savannah. He stomach appeared to be a balloon ready to pop. The rest of her body had swollen slightly though under her clothes no one noticed. At least she hoped no one noticed.

"You know we've been walking for three hours now. We should stop and rest." Omid suggested.

"I'm fine!" Insisted Christa. "I can walk for a while."

"No, Omid's right." Said Katjaa as she came over to examine Christa.

"It's already dark. We should set up camp."

The five stopped and began to unload. Normally they would have stopped walking after the sunset, but tonight the Moon was amazingly bright, so they had kept on going.

Christa leaned down and carefully sat on the grass while Lilly and Travis went to gather wood for a fire.

Omid began to unpack their sleeping mats. Katjaa took out the only pot they had, and began to gather cans of soup from her bag. Christa's nose seemed to catch the scent of the food before the cans' were even opened. Ever since she became pregnant, her sense of smell had gotten keener. She knew exactly which kinds of soup Katjaa had brought out. Two were split pea, while one was, beef stew, and the other was creamy onion. All she needed was a whiff, just one for her stomach to begin begging for her to rip those metal containers open and engorge herself on its contents.

Of course she wouldn't do that. Not like she had the energy anyway, but having to feed two within herself was not easy. Especially when they were living day by day on what they could hunt or scavenge.

"Come on hun, why don't you lie down for a while." Suggested Omid.

Looking to her right she saw he had already set up her sleeping area.

"All right, if it'll make you happy." She said as she moved to the mat. It was funny how their roles had reversed. From as long as she could remember it had been her protecting him. Even back in high school where Omid due to his height was constantly picked on. On one particular day she had been waiting for her parents to pick her up, when she noticed a group of boys tossing something around. Upon investigation she had seen that they were passing around a lunch box, while a small kid in the middle was attempting to retrieve it. Catching the lunch box, she gave it to him and thus ended the bullies' fun. Ever since that day he sort of just followed her around. She didn't mind. It was kind of fun having him around. Her friends had told her the relationship seemed more like pet and master. In truth it had been, until Omid had had the guts to ask her out. However they were in college by then.

"Let me know if there's anything else you need." Omid said breaking Christa's stroll down memory lane.

"Omid!" She replied "I'm fine."

Looking around the camp, she saw that Travis and Lilly had returned, and Lilly was now attempting to light a fire using flint stone and her knife. Katjaa walked over to them.

"Dinner should be ready soon." She stated.

"Let us know if we can help in anyway." Christa Offered.

"Thanks, but I think we're good." Replied Katjaa.

"Oh this piece of!... Argh!" Lilly suddenly shouted.

Christa looked over Katjaa to see Lilly was having trouble lighting the fire.

"Everything okay over there?" Called Katjaa.

"Yeah…" Lilly answered in a much calmer voice. "It's fine."

She walked over to the left side of the encampment and rubbed her eyelids with her fingers. Travis took her place at attempting to light the fire.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one having mood swings?" Christa asked sarcastically.

"Mustn't be too hard on her." Suggested Katjaa.

"I know, but seriously it's been two months, she needs to move on." Christa rebutted.

"We can't even imagine what's she's going through." Said Katjaa. "Losing both men she loved on the same day."

"We've all lost loved ones. You don't see us constantly having emotional outburst. I know what happened that day was horrible for her, but she needs to move on."

Katjaa turned to face Christa.

"That's a lot harder than you think."

* * *

Lilly viewed the horizon. It had happened again. She was simply trying to light a fire and the images of her father's death had flashed within her mind. It was shortly followed by the sight of Lee being set upon by the herd as he rushed to try and save Clementine. As these memories flooded her mind she had first began to hit the stone harder against her knife until she finally lashed out in a fit of rage. Now she felt only sadness. Her dad was dead, and Lee had most likely followed in his footsteps. They had also failed to find both Clementine and the other group, which made her feel as though their sacrifice had been in vain.

Thinking of Lee however caused her to remember the item he had given her prior to his departure. Looking down at he left hand, she was able to form a weak smile. It was a constant reminder of what she had meant to him. She watched as the object shined against the light of the moon.

She may had lost everything else, but she had yet to lose hope, that Lee had somehow managed to survive the horde.

And if he had then they would definitely be needing this.

* * *

"Those are two very interesting stories." Lee said as the four sat down and ate dinner.

"Almost unbelievable." Added Molly with suspicion.

The two men who identified themselves as Vince and Wyatt had met each other only two months prior. They both had been with another, during the beginning of the outbreak, and both of their partners had abandoned them, for different reasons.

"Well it's all true." Stated Wyatt.

"Good thing we found you guys." Said Vince as he continued to devour the beans Lee and Molly had provided them with.

Lee found himself constantly staring at Vince. There was something about him, something so familiar, yet he couldn't put his finger on it.

"You okay there bud?" Asked Vince obviously noticing his stare.

"Oh.. yeah." Replied Lee quickly. "It's just…. Do I know you?" He asked.

"I doubt it. You don't look familiar to me anyway." Vince replied.

"Something about your face." Lee stated.

"What? That I'm Asian. You're not having one of those "Look its Jackie Chan" moments are you?" He jokingly asked Lee.

Lee chuckled a bit. Perhaps he was having one of those moments.

"Good thing we bumped into you guys." Said Wyatt. "We ran out of food a couple days ago."

"Yeah well we're happy to share what God's blessed us with." Replied Lee. "We found a car abandoned on the highway, with loads of can goods."

"Though we're not running a soup kitchen here." Molly butted in.

"Oh don't worry we can pull our own weight." Wyatt stated.

"Come on man." Said Vince obviously noticing his friend's implication.

"That your way of inviting yourself?" Asked Molly.

"Oh.. no I just thought…." Wyatt stuttered.

"Excuse my friend over here." Said Vince. "It's been a while since we've eaten. Don't worry right after we're done we'll head out."

"No need." Replied Lee. "If you want, you can travel with us."

"Really? Oh thanks man!" Shouted an overly eager Wyatt.

"We appreciate it." Vince added.

Molly finished her meal and placed the can down in front of her. "So is there anything else we need to know about you two?" She questioned.

"Well…. I don't think so." Stated Vince.

"There was that little girl." Stated Wyatt, statement that caused Lee to stop eating.

"Oh yeah, the Savannah kid. That was something." Stated Vince.

"What Savannah kid?" Lee asked suddenly.

"Oh well it actually happened a day after we met. We were walking down this field and all of a sudden we spot this little girl slowly making her way to us." Said Vince.

"Yeah and she had this glock, and pointed it at us like she knew how to use it." Added Vince. "She was wearing this white dress, though it wasn't white anymore, it was soaked in walker blood."

"What was her name!?" Lee shouted.

Vince seemed shocked by his sudden outburst, but Wyatt kept on going.

"She also had this cap with a big ol D on it. A… Clementine yup that was her name."

"Where is she?!" Lee asked as he walked closer to the two.

"You know her?" Asked Vince.

"She's basically his daughter." Stated Molly from behind him.

"Oh….. oh… well you see… we sort of…. Might have given her away."

"What!?" Lee screamed as he grabbed Wyatt by the collar. Even with one hand Lee was able to yank the larger man with ease.

"Chill… let's just be cool." Said Wyatt.

"What do you mean you gave her away?" Lee asked while still gripping Wyatt's shirt collar.

"Look we took care of her for about a week….." Answered Vince. "…but we're not exactly the best parents. It was hard looking after a little girl. Then one day we came across this group of six other people. The leader offered to take her off our hands."

"And you just gave her to him?!" Lee asked.

"They had other kids. Two of them were married. There was even another girl in that group. It was the best for her." Stated Wyatt.

Lee released him, causing him to stumble backward.

"I'm sorry." He said as Vince helped Wyatt up. "It's just… I've been looking for her for the past two months."

"We understand man." Said Vince. "We're all looking for the people we lost at the start of all this."

Lee nodded. Molly came up from behind and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll find her. Hey thanks to these guys we now know she made it out safely. That's something."

Lee gave a smile. It was true he was never absolutely sure she made it out of Savannah alive. Now he at least knew his actions had not been in vain. It was even better that she had found a safe group, with some kids and people who would know how to properly raise a little girl. Still he had to find her, even if it was just to let her know he was okay.

"So this group." Asked Lee. "Where were they headed?" Asked Lee.

"Up north I think. We didn't talk to long… I think the leader's name is… Steve."

* * *

**Thanks to all who read this. Here we go again. I hope you guys remember who Steve is. If not I think you'll realize it soon enough. I'm going to try and finish this before season two comes out. Hopefully I'll be able to. God bless you all!**


	2. When a door closes a window opens

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Walking Dead game which is the property of Robert Kirkmen and Telltale games.**

**Sorry for the long wait, but was really busy lately. Before I get to chapter 2 would like to give a shoutout to Euregatto. He or she was actually a pretty big inspiration to the original things change story. Her story Detonate is great and even though it's unfinished I encourage you all to read it. Other than that here's chapter 2 of things change. God bless you all!**

* * *

"I'm telling you it's the best way." Doug insisted.

"And I'm telling you you're nuts!" Replied Kenny.

"Well how would you get across?" asked Doug.

Kenny gave his mustache a stroke. "Hmm maybe go around?" He suggested.

"Oh, come on Kenny. That doesn't make any sense. Listen it'll work all we have to do is use this alarm clock to create a distraction, and then you and me run in and grab as many supplies as we can. It'll work." Doug assured him.

Kenny rubbed his mustache once more. "All right, but Carley's running with me not you."

That Doug was firmly against. "No!" He protested "I'm going."

"No offence Doug, but you ain't the fastest at….. well anything really." Replied Kenny.

Doug thought to himself. Technically Kenny was right, but still he didn't feel comfortable sending Carley in.

"Don't worry, I trust you plan." Said Carley from behind. She walked up and put her left hand on his shoulder.

"We'll be in and out in no time." She reassured him.

Doug grabbed her hand and caressed it lightly. "All right, wait for the signal." He said.

Carley gave him a light kiss and then she and Kenny walked across the field to wait for the others to create a distraction.

"So we good?" Asked Mark as he approached Doug.

"For now." Doug replied. He turned and looked down at the man. The wheelchair they had found a few weeks prior had been a God send. They weren't sure how long he'd last on crutches. The chair was much more mobile.

Doug took out the old fashion alarm clock and began to twist the back. He then went over to Duck who was standing behind Mark.

"Push him toward that clearing." Suggested Doug. "I'm going on the opposite side to set the bait."

"All right, let's go Mark." Said the young boy.

"You're the boss." Mark replied.

Doug watched as the young boy pushed the much older man to a safe vantage point. He then looked at the clock. The alarm would go off within sixty seconds, which meant he had to move quickly to set the trap…. And make it back in one piece.

* * *

"Looks like the bait is set." Said Kenny as the two waited for the alarm clock to go off.

Carley watched as Doug ran as fast as he could to get away from the ticking clock, which proceeded to buzz wildly about twenty seconds after he left it. This caused the walkers near the gas station to veer toward where the sound emitted.

"Come on." Said Kenny as the two began to quietly walk behind the group of walkers as they took the bait like rats did with cheese. Once the entire group had left Kenny and Carley darted for the station. Upon arrival Carley noticed it was mostly vacant. There was an 18 wheeler near one of the pumps and a few cars here and there, but other than that the place was practically empty.

"Let's get inside." Said Kenny.

Carley nodded and followed him into the station's mini mart. They would have just a few minutes before the walkers got bored of the distraction and headed back toward them.

* * *

Waiting. It was one of the hardest things to do. Yet here Doug was, waiting as Carley and Kenny disappeared into the Mini Mart. The walkers currently were still distracted by the clock and posed no threat to either party….. for now at least. Doug knew from experience that the diversion would only last a few minutes. Even walkers eventually got bored and moved on to whatever was next on the menu.

"How long do those things go off?" Mark asked

"Until the battery dies or someone hits the top part." He replied without taking his eyes off the store in front of them.

"Good. Hey man." Mark said as he extended a hand to Doug's shoulder. "Don't worry I'm sure Kenny and the misses will be fine."

Doug smiled but still only looked toward the shop. "Misses" that word seemed so strange. Yet it was true as Doug looked at the ring he now wore to signify the union. He and Carley had made it official a few weeks prior. With no Reverend to speak of, Mark who had been a minister in the air force for a period of time did the honors, with Kenny as the best man and Duck was the ring boy. Sure it was a small ceremony if they could even call it that, but it was nice. He now had a wife, something he had never dreamed would happen, especially given current events.

Suddenly Doug's smile left his face. He ceased his trip down memory lane and returned to the present. It wasn't a sharp sound, or sudden action that caused him to break from his thoughts. Rather the lack there of.

_The alarm stopped ringing!? _He thought. One of the walkers must have either smashed it or slammed the top down.

"Those two better hurry." Said Mark.

"Rest assured," Doug stated. "It'll be a bit before they head back. Looks like they started wandering aimlessly again."

"Hey guys?" Duck asked. "What's that sound?"

Doug listened intuitively. In truth the sound had been there a while, but the noise of the alarm had drowned it almost completely. Now that it no longer rang the noise ran through their ears like the constant banging of drums. Looking to his right, he noticed that the Freight in the back of the semi-truck continually vibrated in sync with the loud banging. Doug read the writing on the freighter.

_Von Brothers Shipping_

Suddenly he was filled with fear as he realized what was happening.

"What is in that truck?" Mark asked obviously oblivious to the danger.

"That's a Von Brothers truck!" Shouted Doug in reply.

"So?" Mark asked.

"The company were suspected of human trafficking about five years back. They dodged the charges due to lack of evidence, but…"

Mark grabbed the pistol he always kept in his chair. Doug in turn took out his Colt 45. Duck mimicked the two gentlemen and brought out the Glock he always carried with him. Though he clearly had no knowledge as to the why.

"What are the chances that they were actually guilty of the charges?" Asked Mark as he cocked his gun.

"Based on that banging." Replied Doug. "Pretty high."

* * *

"Find anything?" Asked Kenny.

Carley nodded. "Not bad, some Ibuprofen, couple of snack cakes, some hot cocoa mix, and…. Condoms."

Carley placed the last item in her pocket. She would need them later, or more appropriately Doug would need them later.

"Well I got some chips, bandages, a couple of chocolate bars the rats didn't get too and um… toilet paper." Said Kenny.

Carley breathed a sigh of relief. They were on their last roll, and she was not too keen on Doug's left hand and a bucket of water suggestion. "That's how they do it in some parts of India." He had said. "Well we're in the United States." She had replied.

"All right let's he….." Carley started before the feeling that something had gone wrong overwhelmed her body.

"What's that?" Asked Kenny.

Carley ran to the door and peered outside. Noise was emitting from inside the freight that was attached on the back of the semi.

That chain won't hold. Carley thought, however that wasn't the main problem. The constant banging had begun to bring back the walkers which had previously vacated the area. Soon they would be surrounded and overwhelmed.

"Is there a backdoor?" asked Carley as she turned around to find Kenny already searching.

"It's blocked!" He shouted. The door was currently behind multiple store shelves all piled into a corner. Carley assumed they had been intentionaly placed their buy a previous group of survivors to stop walkers from getting in through. Most likely it had been done during the early days of the infection, given that there was no coordination involved.

"We have to go through the front then!" She screamed at him.

"Are you crazy?!" Kenny shouted back. "Look how many of them are out there."

Carley turned around and once again looked out the glass doors. The walkers now all crowded around the semi's back doors, which were getting ready to burst open.

She turned back to Kenny. "How fast do you think we could move all these shelves?" He asked her.

Looking back she witnessed that the doors had now swung open and dozens of walkers poured out of the freight.

"Not fast enough." She stated as she went to assist Kenny.

* * *

"Are you sure this'll work?" Asked Duck

"Shhhh quiet." Doug stated. They were only a few yards away from the horde, which was currently doing all it could to get into the Mini Mart. They had yet to break in, but Doug could already hear the glass that made the doors shattering. They were running out of time.

The three slowly made their way to the back of the gas station. Once there Doug placed his gun in the back of his pants.

"All right now I need one of you to boost me up." He said.

There was an awkward silence that followed as Doug realized he only had a cripple and a ten year old boy to work with.

"All right scratch that, um….. Duck!" Called Doug.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to boost you up onto the roof okay?"

"Okay." Duck said with enthusiasm.

"All right once up there, you need to find some kind of access to inside. It'll most likely be locked so I'll give you instructions on how to pick it." Doug stated.

"All right." Duck agreed.

"The internal mechanisms of locks are generally made of brass or die-cast zinc. The cam, which is the tongue that protrudes from the lock to secure it….." Doug began before realizing the young boy had no idea what he was saying.

"Where did I lose you?" Asked Doug.

"Um yeah…" Replied Duck. "How about I just shoot it?"

Doug thought for a moment. "Um okay, that should work."

"Good now let's hurry." Mark urged them.

Doug nodded and climbed on top of the large garbage. He then kneeled down so that the Duck to get on his shoulders. Once the young boy was on top of him, he stood to full height allowing Duck to climb onto the roof.

Doug wanted to shout at him, but that would attract the walkers. For now he would have to trust that the ten year old despite his lack of experience, or short attention span, would somehow against all odds be able to fi…..

*Bang*

… "Hmm that was fast."

* * *

"Move faster!" Shouted Kenny.

"I'm trying!" Replied Carley as they lifted shelf after shelf, and yet there still were quite a few to go before they had access to the back door.

Looking to her left, she saw that the glass was on the verge of breaking.

"We need a new plan!" She screamed.

"There is no other plan! Now come on!" Kenny shouted back.

Carley continued but knew that there was little to no chance they could get to the backdoor before the horde broke through the front.

She could hear as the glass grew weaker by the second. Still she couldn't give up. She took out her gun, and prepared for when the glass doors finally gave way. Kenny obviously realizing it was futile to continue removing shelves joined her and the two got ready for a last stand.

"I know it's kind of useless." Said Carley. "But anything you want to say before they break through?"

"How about thank you." Said a voice. However it wasn't Kenny's, it had come from above. Carley looked up to see Duck looking down through some sort opening on the ceiling.

"Duck!" Called Kenny.

"Dad! I'm gonna lower the rope; I've already tied the other end to the vent. Come on!" Said Duck as he lowered a rope near the two.

"Go Kenny!" Carley said.

He nodded and shimmied up the rope like as though he were in army training camp.

"Come on Carley." He called once he made his way to the roof.

Carley clutched the rope, but as she attempted to ascend, her hands slipped and she fell backward.

"Carley!" Called Duck.

"I'm fine." She replied. "I just…. Was never at climbing rope."

Looking behind her, Carley saw that the glass was all but shattered. She had no time. She clutched the rope as tight as she could, but still could not go upward.

"Hold on!" Said Kenny as he began to pull her up.

Suddenly the glass behind her gave way and she heard the distinguished moan of walkers pouring through the store.

She felt her hand begin to slip. Slowly as Kenny pulled upward she moved downward.

"Hang on!" Called Duck as he began to help his father with the pulling process. At this point Carley was literally hanging by a thread. One more slip and she would fall into the mass below her. She could even feel a few of their fingertips scratching her tennis shoes.

Then it came. The final slip which sent Carley falling downward into the hungry herd.

Or at least it would have, had someone not grabbed her forearm. Looking up, she saw it was Kenny. He had let go of the rope and instead clasp onto her.

"I got ya." He said as he and Duck pulled her up.

Once all three were on the roof, Carley looked downward to see hundreds of walkers still attempting to get inside the store.

"Come on we gotta move!" Shouted Kenny as he and Duck jumped onto the ground.

Carley followed, and was greeted by the loving arms of her husband upon reaching the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"Good now that we know everyone's okay." Said Kenny. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

* * *

"So this group of yours?" Asked Wyatt. "How many people were there?"

"About ten not counting us. Eleven if you count Clementine." He replied.

"That's a big group. Didn't know people still traveled in groups that size." Said Wyatt.

"It's been hard, but the Lord guided us through." Said Lee.

"Seems so." Stated Vince. "Hey can we take a break. My legs are killing me."

Lee looked around. It was pretty quiet, and they had been walking for about 5 hours.

"Yeah okay." He said as the group unloaded.

Lee took out a small protein bar and began to eat it. They were currently headed north since that is where Vince said that's the direction Clementine's group were going.

_Clementine _Just the thought of her cause Lee to smile. He may have been a one armed guy scavenging for his last meal, but knowing that she was safe, somewhere with a good group made all the difference in the world.

* * *

_I have to get out of here! _

That was all Clementine could think as she quietly made her way downstairs. These people we're absolutely nuts! Well at least most of them. It was like the St. John's all over again. Well minus the cannibalism. It didn't matter though, she had to leave, that much was for certain.

As she reached the bottom of the staircase the ground made a slight squeak.

She froze and looked around. There was no movement. After a few seconds she was tiptoeing once more. This time being much more careful to remain silent. Ahead of her was the front door, though getting it open would be anything but easy.

Whenever the group took shelter in a building, Steve would go around and padlock every single door. He said it was to keep walkers out, but Clementine suspected it was more to make sure no one got out. Once she reached the door, she took out the only hair pin she had.

_I hope and pray this works _She thought as she attempted to pick it using the pin. It wasn't nearly as easy as the people in the Saturday morning cartoons made it seem. She didn't even know whether she was progressing or making the lock tighter.

She heard a lot of clicking, but the lock remained strong.

Suddenly the pin slipped out of her fingers and fell on the floor. It bounced a few times, before stopping just a few feet to her left. Clementine practically crawled as she went to retrieve it.

Upon picking it up however she noticed something strange. It was like an essence of sorts was in the room with her. Looking up, she saw a dark figure towering over her small body. Fear filled her insides as whoever it was reached his hand out to snatch her.

She backed away in the nick of time and began to sprint. Though she had no idea where she could run in a house where all the doors had padlocks on them. Looking back she saw that he was no longer behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief right before she ran into something…. Or someone. She fell backward and slammed her head against the hard wooden floor.

Her vision was groggy, but she clearly saw someone standing directly above her. She didn't know how she would be punished for this, but she knew it was severe. Clementine knew she would pass out soon. As she did, she hoped that whatever they were going to do to her… would be done by the time she regained consciousness.

* * *

**Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger like that, but I think it's good to end it there. Thanks to all who made it to the ending. God bless you all!**


	3. The great escape

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Walking Dead game which is the property of Robert Kirkmen and Telltale games.**

**Finally chapter 3 is here. Sorry for the wait, but I had to attend my cousin's wedding in Orlando (I live in Nassau, Bahamas) so I had to prepare for the trip. Then when I came back I was pretty broken up so I didn't write for a few days. Anyway hopefully I'll be updating these chapters much faster now that I'm back home and settled. I'm still trying to have this story finished by the time season 2 comes out. Pray that I'm able to do that. God bless you all.**

* * *

"_You'll like it here." The young girl assured her. _

_Clementine hoped to God that would be true. She had seen enough bad groups to last a lifetime. First the St. John's, then the Save Lots Bandits, and from what she heard Crawford had been the worst of all. _

_This group was different however. There was a married couple and a daughter just a few years older than her. There was a young teen, a slightly older woman, and Steve who was the leader. He had been pretty excited when she, Wyatt and Vince had shown up. He was the one who initially offered to as he put it "Take her off their hands." Which Wyatt and Vince accepted after consulting with her if she would prefer to stay here rather than continue on with them. She agreed. Wyatt and Vince had been nice, but she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to spend some time with children close to her age, and there was a married couple here who had raised a daughter, she'd be a fool not to accept surrogate parents again._

"_Again" She thought to herself. She had accepted a surrogate once before, and thanks to her she lost him. She had not forgotten that it was her running away that ultimately led to Lee's demise. _

"_Lee" She thought again. Remembering was almost too painful to bear. She pushed those thoughts to the side and instead focused on the road ahead. The group had been walking for about half an hour. The small town they were currently residing had little to offer, and other than the dead was basically deserted. Still these small towns seemed like heaven compared to the nearby cities. The walkers that they did come across were much fewer in number here. In fact she had yet to see more than three at one time. Even that was rare. It actually felt a lot like Macon. Like the Motor inn._

"_The Motor Inn." Clementine thought once more, but quickly tossed those memories to the wayside. If her group had made it out of Macon, then they would be most likely heading up North. She may never see them again. There was no point dwelling on the off chance they'd meet again. Still though she hoped and prayed to God one day it would be so._

"_Wo, hold on a second!" Shouted Steve from the front causing the group to come to a halt. _

_Clementine looked ahead to see Steve staring at what appeared to be a small group of walkers. Only the motion they made was much slower and more coordinated. Looking closer she realized they weren't walkers at all, but simply a small group of people. Maybe about four. However what caught her eye was that one of them appeared to be a little girl. Maybe around her age._

"_All right so how we gonna do this?" Asked Kyle. He was the father of Kila who was the other young girl in the group._

"_How we always do we're gonna go in…." Started Steve before turning around and staring straight at Clementine. _

"_Hey there Clem." He said causing her to feel a bit nervous._

_Steve was a nice fellow, but something about him just seemed off. He was too smooth, to collected all the time, like a conman just before he sells you a stolen Rolex. _

"_Hi…" Clementine replied_

"_How would you like to help the group out?" He asked calmly._

"_I would love to help." She answered, but not quite sure what he meant._

"_Well good." Steve stated as he grabbed her left shoulder and pointed her in the direction he was currently looking._

"_See those people over there?" He asked._

"_Yeah." She replied still not understanding what was going on._

"_Well we need you to be the first to talk to them." He told her._

"_What?" She asked, shocked at the request._

"_Well you see, if a group of seven comes to them, they may get nervous and start shooting, but who would shoot a cute little girl like you?" _

_Clementine thought for a moment. What Steve said made sense though she wasn't too thrilled about being the first to greet strangers. However they did have the little girl with them. How bad could they be? _

"_Okay I'll do it." She agreed._

"_Excellent." Replied Steve. "Now we'll be right behind you just in case something happens. Okay?"_

_Clementine nodded and began walking toward the small group of survivors._

"_All right everyone ready?" She heard Steve ask those behind her. She wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she didn't think too much of it either._

_As she got closer to the people she realized they must have been a family. There was a man and woman most likely in their late thirties. There was a young boy probably just a couple years older than her, and the girl which she previously noticed was probably her age. _

"_Stop right there!" Called the dad._

_Clementine put her hands up and stood still._

"_I don't mean you any harm." She called._

"_Joe!" Said the older woman. "She's just a little girl. Put down that rifle!" She ordered him._

_The man did so and as he did the little girl came running up to Clementine._

"_Jolene!" Her dad called but she paid him no heed._

"_Hi there." She said when she was closer. "I'm Jolene. What's your name?"_

"_Clementine." She happily replied._

"_What a beautiful name." Said the older woman once she too stood right in front of Clementine._

"_Thank you." She replied._

"_What's a little girl like you doing out here all by yourself?" She asked her._

"_Oh…." Replied Clementine "I'm not by myself my grou….." _

_*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*_

_Just as the words left her mouth she heard the roaring sound of four bullets followed by the sound of all four bodies hitting the floor._

_Clementine froze. She looked down to see even the little girl lying dead below her. A bullet hole on the left side of her skull. _

"_Who could have done this?" She thought._

"_Good shooting!" She heard a familiar voice from behind say._

_She didn't turn around, she didn't have too. That was Steve's distinct voice. Behind her she heard the small group approaching. She remained motionless unable to take in what had just happened. A few from her group appeared before her, and began to loot the bodies._

"_Good job Clementine." Said Steve as he patted her head. "I think you'll fit right in." He said before he too began to search the victims' possessions for anything worth taking._

"_Her Kila, Russell." Steve called. "Get Clementine cleaned up. There are some clothes here that could fit her._

_She at first wondered why she needed to be "cleaned up" before she took her hand to her face and wiped off fresh blood. That blood belonged to both the mother and daughter that lie dead before her. The same people who had been so nice just moments earlier. _

_Clementine remained in a form of stasis. She couldn't move, couldn't think straight, she could hardly breathe. Even as Russell and Kila rushed to her side, all she could do was stare over the horizon._

"_Come on Clementine let's go." Said Kila as she approached her from the left side._

_Clementine remained Frozen. She hardly heard what Kila said. The words were muffled._

"_Clementine?" Asked Russell. "Clementine?" He asked again as he began to shake her. "Clementine! Clementine!"_

"Clementine! Clementine! Wake up!" She heard again. This time the words were loud and clear. As she opened her eyes and saw a taller figure kneeling right above her.

"Russell!" She screamed as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank God it's you. I thought you were Steve."

"Um…. Cle…. I can't breathe." He struggled to say.

"Oh sorry." She stated as she released him.

"What are you doing up this late?" He asked.

Clementine remained silent for a few moments. She trusted Russell more than anyone else in the group, but she wasn't sure whether or not it was wise to reveal her escape plans to him. Well I….. I was…

"Trying to escape?" He asked, in such a kind voice that all Clementine could do was nod.

"Well you're a brave little girl I'll give you that." He replied with a smile.

Russell then looked around as if making sure they were truly alone.

"All right stay quiet, and follow me." He said as he slowly walked down the corridor to the basement of the building.

"There may be a way out down here." He said. "However I have to warn you Clem. If you leave, don't ever come back."

Clementine nodded once again. In all honesty she had no desire whatsoever to return to these people.

* * *

The night air was brisk to say the least. It was probably about fifty degrees Fahrenheit, but the addition of a strong wind made it feel closer to freezing point.

The group had been blessed to acquire some sweaters out of an abandoned vehicles a few weeks ago, but the wind cut through them as though they were made from wax paper.

Carley clutched onto Doug, who was walking beside her.

"You cold honey?" He asked.

"Just a little." She replied.

"A little?" Called Kenny from behind them.

"It's freezing out here." He stated.

"It's not that bad." Said Mark who was currently behind Kenny.

"For you guys no, but I'm from Florida. I ain't used to this." Replied Kenny.

"Hey guys…" Said Duck who was currently pushing Mark.

"What is it son?" Asked Kenny.

"Shouldn't we set up camp, it's getting really late." He said.

"Not yet Duck. You know the drill. Sun rise's around five thirty. Then and only then do we sleep, when there are less walkers out."

The boy nodded though Carley could tell he was struggling to stay awake.

"How about I push Mark for a while." She suggested.

"No I got it." Replied the young boy while yawning.

"Nah take a break Duck." It was Doug who spoke this time, as he left Carley's side and positioned himself in between Duck and Mark. "I'll push him for a bit."

Duck silently agreed. Carley watched as the young boy moved up to where Kenny was walking. It was amazing he was even still awake. She knew about his nightmares. He was constantly calling out names in his sleep. Sometimes he would shout Mom! At other times he would be dreaming of someone named Shawn, but most of the time he seemed to be dreaming of Clementine. He missed his child companion, and he didn't seem to stop worrying about her. He would sometimes go on about how it was his responsibility to find her, despite the fact that no one even had a clue as to where she was or whether she was still alive for that matter. Still Carley liked his enthusiasm, though it was different than it had been in the past. Duck had grown somewhat stronger in the past two months. Both physically and mentally. He took things more seriously, and seemed to have slightly more control over his ADHD. He began taking more risk, though only when it benefitted the group. In one instance when they had come across a well-stocked plumbing store, the group was at odds on how best to obtain the supplies since there was a large group of walkers inside the store. While they were still discussing Duck took it upon him to grab a led pipe and bang it constantly against the store wall until all the walkers inside began to chase after him. As the group attempted to rescue him, Duck somehow backtracked to the store and ended up behind them. Carley still remembers how hard Kenny yelled at him that day, though the rest of them were grateful.

"Hold up." Said Kenny who had now made his way to the front of the group. "We got movement up ahead."

"Walkers?" Asked Carley.

"No. Too coordinated." He replied.

Carley viewed the field in front of them. They were going down a slight slope which meant she could see much better than whoever was below them. About two hundred yards in front of them, Carley saw what appeared to be a single person walking slowly across the field. He or she was moving in their direction. Whether or not that person knew of their presence had yet to be seen.

"Looks like just one guy." Said Kenny. "We can handle him."

"Wo woo," Doug butted in. "If it's just one person there's no need for us to "handle" him. Let's just approach whoever it is nice and slow and then we can talk things through like adults."

"Most people wandering nowadays ain't up for much talking." Stated Kenny.

"Well we're not most people." Said Carley. "Doug's right, we should greet whoever it is, maybe he or she is friendly."

"Or maybe he or she is a part of our group." Suggested Mark from behind.

Kenny seemed to be in deep thought. Technically Mark was right, it could quite possibly be a member of their group. Though Carley doubted it would be.

"All right maybe we….."

"Freeze!" Shouted a voice from behind.

Carley turned around, along with everyone else to see a rather tall man pointing a handgun at them.

"Let me make this clear." He told them. "Any of you and I mean any of you reach for your weapons and the conversation comes to an abrupt end."

Carley looked to her left. No one reached for their weapon. If it were anyone, it would be Kenny though she knew he wouldn't risk that with Duck around…. Come to think of it however…. Where was Duck? Carley hadn't really seen him since they discovered the body walking across the field.

"Hey, I found some people." The man said into a walkie talkie he had pulled out of his pockets.

"What do you mean?... Alive people?" A woman on the other line asked him.

"As alive as people are nowadays." He replied. "Got four adults."

"You didn't start out by drawing your gun this time did you?" The woman on the radio asked.

"Will you relax," he replied. "I probably saved your life. They were eyeball…" He stated before screaming in pain. He then fell to one knee before turning his hand which currently held the gun to the side. He wasn't fast enough however as Duck using the lead pipe he always carried with him whacked it out of his hand and on to the nearby ground. He then delivered what would now be a third blow to the man's stomach, sending him to the ground. Duck raised his weapon once more, but was stopped before continued by the sound of a gun cocking nearby.

"That's enough kid." A woman's voice said from the right side of Carley, who now had her gun out. Duck lowered his weapon, but Carley refused to do so with hers. She pointed the Glock right at the lady. She was joined by Kenny and Doug.

"You point that gun away from my son." Demanded Kenny. The woman lowered her weapon.

"Look I think we all got off on the wrong foot here." She said calmly.

"Wrong foot?!" Cried the man who was still on the ground below Duck riling in pain. "Ain't that the understatement of the year."

"Your boy here just showed up, pointing his gun at us. We defended ourselves." Kenny Justified. Though it would have been more truthful to say that Duck had defended them.

"Look I understand, you don't know us and we don't know you. However if you give me thirty seconds I can explain everything." She pleaded with Kenny.

He looked to his son and then back at Carley and Doug who were on the right side of him. Carley nodded, the woman deserved to be heard out. If they didn't like what they heard than they would simply move on.

"All right you got thirty seconds." Said Kenny. "Starting now."

* * *

"You sure about this?" Asked Clementine to Russell.

"Positive, I noticed it when we came in." He stated as he continued to remove piles of garbage which were currently blocking the basement wall.

"We have to hurry though. Steve may wake up soon." She stated. She didn't want to think what he would do to them if they were caught trying to escape.

"Will you relax." Russell assured her. "You know Steve wakes up every morning at half pass five. He likes to watch the sun rise."

Clementine knew this, but with all the noise Russell was making, she was worried Steve would hear it and catch them in the act of escaping.

"All right there it is." Said Russell as he pushed the last piece of trash to the side.

Clementine looked upward to see what Russell had been attempting to get to all along.

"Is that a window?" She asked him.

"Yup I saw it when we came in. No one locked it neither, since all the trash would have stopped any walker from getting through."

Clementine once again looked at her escape route.

"It's kind of small." She stated.

"So are you." He said. "Now come on hurry up and get on my shoulders."

Clementine did so with immense speed. As she did Russell stood to his full height, allowing her to gain access to the small window above them.

Upon reaching the window, she opened it and looked outside to see if anything was moving nearby. She then looked back at Russell who was still standing just below her.

"What will he do to you?" She asked "For helping me escape."

"Let me worry about me." Russell replied. "Just get out now, before it's too late."

Clementine looked at him one more time. He was still smiling at her. "Thank you so much." She said as she turned and ran out into the street. She didn't know where she was going, but she didn't care. She had to put some distance between her and them if she truly wanted to escape. Seven was Steve's magic number and he wouldn't take her leaving so lightly. He and the rest of the group would look for her, most likely for days before giving up.

After continuously walking for about a half hour she stopped and drank some water from the bottle she had with her. She took a moment to rest and as she did thought back to Russell. She had been in such a hurry to escape that something had eluded her during the whole process, something which she really should have questioned, but didn't think much of it at the time.

Why was Russell up so late...and why did he have his backpack on him?

* * *

**Thanks for all those who made it to the end. I bet many of you will be able to guess who it was that bumped into Kenny's group. If not it should be revealed in the next chapter. God bless you all.**


	4. Reunited and it feels ehhh

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Walking Dead game which is the property of Robert Kirkmen and Telltale games.**

**Finally chapter 4 is out. Sorry for the delay, but it's been so busy around the holidays. I doubt I'll meet my goal of finishing before the next game come out since it should be releasing within the next few days. Oh well. God bless you all!**

* * *

"Come on we shouldn't be out in the open too long." Said Lilly from the front of the group.

"I think Christa should rest a bit." Omid argued.

"For Pete's sake Omid. We've only been walking for a half hour. I'm fine!"

"Still I think…"

"I can walk all day if I have too." Christa interrupted sharply.

"All right." Omid stated.

"Why don't you scout ahead? See what's beyond this hill." She urged him.

"You sure you'll be all right without me?" He asked.

Christa smiled both slightly annoyed and flattered by the amount of attention he was giving her.

"I'll manage." She replied.

Omid nodded and ran ahead to the top of the hill.

Christa let out a long sigh after he departed "What am I going to do with him?" She asked herself.

"Ah they're all like that with the first child." Said Katjaa as she walked up to the much taller woman.

"Really? They all treat you like you're an invalid who can't do the simplest of tasks?" Christa asked.

"Pretty much. You should have seen Kenny when I was pregnant with Duck. He was a mess, overreacting to every little thing. He even wanted to stop fishing all together so he could be with me every waking moment….." Katjaa stopped midsentence and Christa noticed the slightest hint of sadness showing up on the woman's face.

"Don't worry Katjaa. I'm sure we'll find them." She assured her.

Katjaa gave her a weak smile. "I know we will." She replied.

"Hey guys!" Omid called from above.

"You're gonna want to see this."

* * *

The field was…. Pretty clear. Which was good most likely as the young girl walked slowly over the brown grass. The temperature felt around fifty degrees Fahrenheit and there was a light chill in the air. However Clementine felt none of this. She simply felt free. Free from crazy Steve and his band of misfits. For now anyway. In truth she hadn't gone very far, but she had been walking all night so she did put some distance between them. Hopefully they wouldn't look for her, though she seriously doubted that since seven was Steve's lucky number and he would do nearly anything to make sure the group didn't drop below that.

Still it was nice to feel the wind in her short hair again, as she made her way to what appeared to be a nearby city. There was still quite some distance between her and the buildings. It would probably be another half hour before she reached them. Every step she took brought her closer to wanting to rest. She had gone about two days without a good sleep. Her body was ready to give out, but her mind kept her focused on the task at hand. The houses ahead of her were bound to be better shelters than sleeping out in the open. Once she reached the town she could find a nice small room and catch at least a few hours before evening set in and the dead came out in vast numbers.

Speaking of which, ahead of her stood a sole walker in the brown grass. Clementine froze. Looking ahead, she saw it wasn't moving much. Its right leg was little more than bone, and both its arms were missing. As it struggled to make its way across the meadow, Clementine couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

She began once again to make her way closer to both the town and the limping walker. As she did, it turned around and began to slowly trot towards her.

She kept her pace, unafraid. Now just ten yards away from where she would be predator stood, she took out the hammer that Kyle had provided her with after they slaughtered the family of four. Just about five yards away, the walker's right leg gave way and broke in two, sending its owner stumbling on the ground. That didn't stop it from trying to obtain its meal however. Clementine now stood right above him. His moans were weaker than most of the others she had come across. He reached out to grab her, but didn't seem to have the strength to do it. Clementine raised her hammer, not wanting to prolong its suffering. She brought the hammer down, smashing his head open and smearing some of its blood on her clothes. The walker ceased moving or moaning and simply lay there, now fully dead.

She pulled the hammer out of the walker and went to place it back in her backpack, but just then she noticed something. In front of her something else was moving. However its movements were better coordinated than the walker she had just killed and it also held what appeared to be a rifle….. which was currently pointed at her.

"Don't move." He warned her.

Clementine let the hammer drop from her hand and raised both of them up.

"Please…" She pleaded. "Don't shoot."

"I said don't move!" He nearly yelled.

Clementine felt fear drive up her spine, as he got closer.

"I mean you no harm…" She tried to convince him. "Please…."

*Bang*

His gun went off and Clementine felt blood splatter all over her body. She screamed, and immediately fell to the ground.

However after a few moments she realized she was not wounded and the blood was not her own. She rose slowly and looking to her left, saw another walker. Its head too was split open, but not by a hammer.

"You okay?" Asked the young boy who had just saved her from the walker.

He reached out his hand to help her up, and Clementine gladly accepted.

"I think so. Thanks." She quietly replied.

"No problem," he answered back. "So what's a young girl like you doing out here all alone?" He asked.

"Young? You're one to talk. You don't look much older than me." Replied Clementine.

"I'm probably not, but I'm certainly better equipped, and obviously better trained." He boasted.

"Don't bet on that." She snapped back.

"Whatever, I don't have time to argue. I should get back, been hunting all night and found nothing." He said as he turned to head toward the city.

Clementine remained where she stood not sure of what to do in this situation. The young boy stopped suddenly and looked back at her.

"You coming?" He asked.

"Oh, yes." She replied as she went to catch up with him.

As she gave him a look over, she realized he couldn't have been much older than she. He did seem to handle his weapon slightly better than she did hers. Like her was from one of those back of woods families she had seen on her dad's old westerns.

"So what's your name?" He asked as the two continued heading toward the buildings.

"Clementine." She replied.

"Like the song?" He asked. She nodded.

"What's yours?" She asked back.

"Well the group I was with called me shooter since I hardly ever miss with this thing." He said as he pointed to his rifle. "But since they're not around anymore I guess I can revert back to the name my mother gave me." He stated.

"Which was?" Clementine asked.

"Adam."

* * *

"So you're from Macon too?" Asked Vince as he Lee and Molly searched for any kind of wildlife.

"Born and raised." Lee answered back.

"Nice. Well you said I looked familiar. Maybe we bumped into each other a few times." Vince stated.

"I doubt it. I've been away from home for a while. I worked at UGA so I moved a while back."

"Oh, well maybe it's something else then." Said Vince.

"Maybe." Replied Lee.

"Maybe you two went to school together or something." Suggested Molly from behind.

"I doubt that as well, I would definitely remember a bla… er…. Afric….. uhh…" Vince stuttered.

"You can say it. You didn't have too many black friends I'm guessing." Said Lee.

"Yeah, I mean I had a few, but not much."

"Well I can't say I knew too many Asians either. In fact the only Asian Macon local I have ever met I met after the plague began." He stated.

"Hmm, nothing like an outbreak to bring the nations together." Said Vince.

Vince checked the nearby shrub for signs of anything living, while Lee looked at the tree tops to see if there were any birds around. There were none, no animals whatsoever. Lee wondered if they too had been affected by everything that had happened. From what they had seen animals wouldn't come back after dying, but that'd didn't mean they were completely immune. Perhaps they still got sick or in some way were impaired by the infection.

At any rate it had been a good while since Lee had seen any wildlife.

"So you said your last name was Everett?" Asked Vince.

"Yeah, why?"

"Are you related to the Everett's who owned that drug store in the center of town?" He asked.

"They were my parents." Answered Lee.

"Oh, we're? I'm sorry, they were nice people." Said Vince.

"I know. They were." Answered Lee.

"Well I've shopped there more than a few times. Perhaps that's where we ran into each other." Stated Vince.

"Maybe. It doesn't look like anything's out here." Lee said changing the subject. "Perhaps we should head back."

"No argument here." Said Molly.

"Sure. Just a give me minute I have to ah….." Vince started to say.

"You have to relieve yourself?" Asked Molly.

"Was trying to be subtle." Vince replied.

"Don't worry about that." She stated. "No need to bother with pleasantries just because I'm here."

"All right be right back." Said Vince as he disappeared in the brush.

Molly walked up beside Lee once he left.

"These new guys seem all right." She said.

"Yeah. Pretty rare nowadays." Replied Lee.

"Yeah." She agreed.

Lee looked over to the young blonde. She was always attractive, but at this moment it was as if the Sunlight shone exactly on her. It was like a movie. Everything went in slow motion for a while as Lee took a moment to enjoy the view.

"Earth to Lee." Molly said breaking him out of his stupor.

"Oh… Sorry, just…"

"Staring at me, again I might add." She said.

"Sorry…."

"Don't be, it's not exactly a bad thing to have a well built, mature gentlemen admiring my beauty." She jokingly replied.

"Making fun of my age are we?" Said Lee focusing on the word "mature."

"Oh come on, you're not that old." She said.

"Too old for you apparently." Stated Lee.

After saying this he noticed a slight change in Molly's demeanor. She appeared to be in deep thought all of a sudden.

"Hey Molly." Lee said causing her attention to focus back on him.

"Yeah?" She responded.

"Why did you leave our group?" He asked.

"Not this again." She replied.

"Well you never really were clear on why you left." He said.

"Why are you so interested in that?" She asked back.

"Just wondering. I mean you left because you claim you did better on your own, but then you join me the next day. Doesn't make much sense."

"I found you knocking on death's door. I couldn't just leave you behind." She stated.

"But you didn't have to continue with me. You could have gone off on your own." Said Lee.

"Oh would you prefer it if I had. Is that it? You want me gone?"

"No, of course not. Just odd you say you work better on your own, but then you spend two months with me trying to find Clementine and the rest of my group."

Molly went quiet for a few seconds after that. Lee could tell he had hit some kind of wall she put over herself. He didn't want to offend or upset her, but this question had been in the back of his mind ever since she rescued him back in Savannah.

"Well I…." Molly started to say before Vince made his way back to the two.

"Hey guys." He said. "Sorry I took so long…"

There was a slight awkward silence for a few seconds.

"So…." Vince stated breaking the silence. "What'd I miss?"

* * *

"What happened here?" Asked Katjaa as the group made its way across the city.

"The same thing that happened in Atlanta." Replied Lilly.

The way the others stared at her caused her to realize they had no idea what she was talking about.

"Before I left Warner Robins there was an order sent out to most of the pilots. Those first few days were frantic. Choppers and Jets were swarming across cities, scanning to see how wide the infection had spread."

Lilly paused for a moment as she noticed a small teddy bear. It was being held by a very small skeletal figure. Most likely the previous owner. She reached down and grabbed the bear, which was completely covered in soot.

"After two days most of the cities were deemed un-savable and ordered to be… er.. neutralized for all the good it did."

"So they just bombed these places without regard for possible survivors?" Asked Omid.

"The government thinks first of containment. The risk of killing innocents wasn't high on their priority list." Replied Lilly.

"So you think anything survived this?" Asked Travis.

Lilly looked at the small teddy bear in her hand. "Well this did, so it's possible. We should do a quick search."

"Yeah, but let's not stay too long." Warned Christa. "I don't like cities."

"Oh don't worry hun." Replied Omid. "From the looks of it, there ain't nothing living around here."

* * *

"Here we are. Home sweet home." Said Adam as the two arrived to the bottom of a small apartment complex. There was not door. Simply a large opening, and a small wooden fence which he and Clementine had climbed over. The fence went around the entire complex. It actually reminded her of the one they had back in the motor inn, minus all the furniture.

"Over here is where I keep my supplies." He said as he pointed to a set of large cardboard boxes. Inside each was a different set of equipment. One contained packs of ammo. The other the guns which went with them, and the other contained….small rectangular bags.

"Those are MRE's." Stated Adam as he grabbed two and handed one of them to Clementine. "But I call them dinner most of the time."

"Where'd you get all this stuff?" She asked as she cut open her MRE with the knife he provided.

"I'm not quite sure. Most of this was here when I arrived." He said.

"You've live here by yourself?" She asked surprised.

"Now I do." Said Adam as he rested his sniper rifle against the wall and opened his own MRE.

"There was three others when I got here. They took me in and showed me how to hunt." He stated.

Clementine sat across from him as the two ate their Meal Ready to Eat.

"What happened to them?" She asked though deep down she pretty much knew.

"It was two weeks ago I think." Adam began. "They were out hunting while I was here guarding the supplies. I didn't think it too strange when they didn't return that night. Brian who was our leader always said if we found ourselves too far from the camp, to make it back before dark, we should simply find somewhere safe and stay there until the next morning."

Adam stood up and walked over to another box in the corner which Clementine had failed to notice previously. Out of it he grabbed five large pieces of firewood and placed then in between the two.

"It wasn't until the next day came and I still didn't see them that I began to worry." He went on as he got the wood in position to make a fire.

"I grabbed my rifle and went searching for them, but only found Susan." Adam took a lighter from his pocket and some paper. He wrapped the paper around the log in the center and lit it before continuing.

"She told me they thought they had struck gold." He said. "They stumbled into what she called an old bomb shelter. She said there was, enough food and weapons to last for months to come."

He went silent for a few seconds. This had obviously affected him deeply on an emotional level. Though he seemed willing to talk about it.

"However since it was nearly nightfall they decided to stay there. They weren't the only one's there though. Susan said that night she was awoken by Brian's screams. When she awoke she saw him struggling with someone else. It was Charles, the third member of the group. She ran to help him and upon freeing him from Charles' grasp noticed that he was bleeding from his neck. Looking back she saw that Charles was not himself. He had become a walker overnight. Though that wasn't all that had changed. His neck apparently was swollen beyond belief. At that moment she noticed a few hornets's hovering above where he had slept. He was deadly allergic to those things. One must have gotten him that night. Brian held him back and told Susan to run, which she did after realizing he was bitten. However his initial screams had caused a few more nearby walkers to take notice. I don't know the whole story, but eventually one of them got her."

Adam wiped a tear which had made its way down his cheek.

"She died a few minutes later in my arms." He said. "I made sure she didn't come back."

"I'm sorry." Said Clementine when he stopped talking.

"Thank you." He replied. "So what happened to your group?" He asked.

"How do you know I was with a group?" She asked back.

"Please a little girl like you. No way you made it this far along by yourself."

"Your one to talk, we're probably the same age."

"Exactly. I didn't make it this far alone either. So once again, what happened to the people you were with?"

Clementine thought for a moment. Should she talk about her original group or the people she had recently fled from? Maybe both.

"Well first I sheltered with this group at a motor inn, but that fell through and we fled to Savannah. I… got separated from them after that." She said not wanting to go into any real details.

"Then I ended up with another group, but most of them were crazy."

"Crazy how?" Adam Asked.

"Psycho killers crazy." She responded. "So I ran away."

"Interesting." Adam commented. "Well I'm tired" He said as he picked up one of the sleeping bags next to him and threw it at Clementine. He then picked up one and rolled it out for himself.

"Wait, shouldn't one of us stay up and keep watch or something?" She asked.

"Oh don't worry about that." Said Adam. "This thing will let us know if anything comes within fifty feet." He stated as he pointed to a rather large green metal box with a circle in the middle. The circle had a lot of mini circles inside and some type of digital needle spinning clockwise.

"It's radar." Adam said. "Brian stripped it from a naval vessel. It beeps and shows dots on the screen to signal any trespassers nearby."

This made her feel a little better. She was an extremely light sleeper so even the slightest sound would spring her awake. She placed her backpack down and rolled out the sleeping bag he had provided her.

"Well good night Clementine or good afternoon I guess." He said as he rolled up in his sleeping bag.

"Good night." Clem replied back. Though in truth it was only about two o'clock in the afternoon.

* * *

"You were a murderer before this all began?" Asked Vince to Lee.

"Not something I brag about." Lee replied.

"Kind of coincidental." Vince replied.

"How?"

"Well I was one as well."

"What?!"

"Oh great I now have two homicidal maniacs to watch out for." Molly sarcastically stated.

"I was actually on a prison bus when the dead first attacked." Said Vince ignoring Molly's statement.

"I was on my way to prison too, but in a police car." Replied Lee.

"Hmm. You said I looked familiar to you." Stated Vince. "Maybe we met in-between trials or something?" He asked.

"Maybe." Said Lee as the three nearly reached the camp. Upon getting closer Lee noticed something odd. They had left Wyatt alone, but upon observation. Lee noticed there was another body currently with next to him.

"Hey guys! Thank God you're back!" Wyatt shouted as they got close.

"Who's your friend?" Asked Molly.

"hmphmhmhmphmpmhpmhmph." Was all Lee heard in response from the person kneeling next to Wyatt, as there was a small bag over his head. Lee also noticed that his or her hands were tied behind his or her back.

"Found this one trying to steal our food when I went to take a leak. Luckily I caught him before he could get anything." Answered Wyatt.

"What's with the bag?" Asked Lee.

"Oh, causes them to be distorted, can't think clearly, or formulate a plan of attack." Wyatt stated.

"So what are we going to do with him?" Asked Vince.

"Well let's talk to him first. He's probably just hungry I mean look how skinny he is." Said Lee.

Just then the body fell over to the ground, and the bag covering the, would be thief's head rose up slightly, not enough to reveal his face however.

"Please….." He begged. "Don't kill me!"

_Wait a second?_ Thought Lee. That high pitched ladies voice, The way he pitifully begged for mercy. Only one person matched that criteria. Lee lifted the back, but immediately stepped back when he realized who it was.

"It's not possible." Said Lee in shock.

Molly walked next to him to see who it was he was staring at. She gave him a small smile. "Apparently it is."

* * *

"_I'll cut it myself." Clementine said._

_With that she raised the gun and pointed it right at Lee's head. _

_*bang*_

_The tears began to flow. She closed her eyes and just remained that way for a few moments. She had just killed the very person who had been taking care of her all these months. What made matters worse was that it was her fault he had been bitten in the first place. Why hadn't she listened to him? Why did she trust the stranger? _

_As she reopened her eyes, she noticed something odd. There was a bullet hole through the wall. Looking to the left she saw Lee's head had plopped down on top of the heater, causing her shot to miss completely. She raised the gun once more to his head, before hearing the loud moans of multiple walkers nearing the store. They were banging on the gate which she had shut right after she entered. The shot must have sent them off. She didn't think they could break through, but there was still the back door. If walkers started getting in from there, then she would be trapped. She had to hurry and she couldn't risk making any more noise. _

_*beep*_

_She had told Lee she wouldn't let him turn. However she was not about to let him die in vain either. If she didn't survive then everything that led up to this point would have been meaningless._

_*beep*_

_She ran for the door, but not before taking one last look at Lee. He seemed at peace. His face even had a hint of a smile. It was as though he simply fell asleep._

_*beep* *beep* *beep*_

Clementine awoke. It was the same dream, night after night. She rarely got a good sleep. However this time the dream added some kind of beeping sound effect which she had never heard before.

*beep* *beep* *beep*

Wait a second! That sound was real. Suddenly a hand covered her mouth.

"Shhh." Adam said as he pointed to the radar device. It currently had a bunch of blips on the screen every time the needle in the middle passed over a certain area.

She nodded as she realized what it meant. He then removed his hand from her mouth and grabbing his rifle walked to the wall on the other side of the entrance.

Clementine grabber her hand gun and did the same.

*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*

The noise grew louder and the blips grew larger on the screen. Clementine assumed this meant whatever was out there was getting closer.

"How many?" She whispered to Adam.

"I don't know," He responded "They're too clustered."

The noise was almost constant now as the blips continued to draw closer to the center of the circle.

"What is that?" Asked a voice from the distance.

"Oh crap." Adam whispered. "It's live people."

"Sometimes that's not a bad thing." Said Clementine.

"Yeah, but sometimes they're worse than the dead." He replied.

Clementine nodded. What he said was true.

"Sounds like an alarm system or something." Said another voice. A woman this time.

"It's coming from over here." Said yet another voice though she couldn't tell whether it was a woman or a man.

She however could tell when multiple boots hit the ground after leaping over the fence.

Adam raised his rifle and looked over to Clem, who raised her handgun above her head to show she was ready.

The people passed in-between the two youngsters. Too focused on the beeping device to notice them.

"Looks like some kind of radar system." Said one of them in a voice which Clementine recognized instantly.

"Freeze!" Shouted Adam as he cocked his bolt action rifle.

The group in front of her turned around to face them. For a few moments they all just looked in awe at each other.

"Um you know these people?" Asked Adam, but Clementine wasn't listening to him. It was as if her body had shut down upon the sight of so many familiar faces. It wasn't until they all unanimously shouted "Clementine!?" That she finally took a moment to…. breath.

* * *

**Thanks to all who read this far. Quite the predicament. The main question being who found Clementine? Was it Lilly's group? Carley's group? Or even Crazy Steve's group. I mean she hadn't traveled too far from where they were spending the night. Perhaps they caught up with her. Also who is the person that attempted to rob Lee's group? Those of you who remember who Adam is should realize how much danger Clementine is in if he finds out what she did. All this should be answered soon enough. God bless you all! **


	5. Splitting up

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Walking Dead game which is the property of Robert Kirkmen and Telltale games.**

**Firstly I'd like to apologize for my absence. Things were really busy over the Christmas. I had to help with my church play, then there were family gatherings and other things which got in the way of writing. However now that busy time is over. As my mother would say "It's time to enjoy the lull." For me that means trying to write more and bring you updates faster than two weeks per chapter. I hope you all had happy holidays. God bless you all!**

* * *

"All right I'll give it to you. This place is pretty sweet." Kenny stated as the two of them walked across the property.

"Told you. We've been working pretty hard to build a community like this." Tavia replied.

Kenny stopped at the top of the hill. From here you could see the entire camp. Tavia's group had converted an old army base into a nearly perfect survival camp. There was a garden to grow crops, a library filled with any books the group was able to scavenge; there was even a place where a mechanic worked, on the few cars that were present. In truth those cars were the only thing that threw Kenny off. If they were army trucks, or vans it would have made sense as evacuation vehicles if needed. However they were all cars Kenny would usually see on those street racing movies. There was a Camaro, RX- 7 and even a Mustang. The problem was with the amount of people currently living here only about half could escape in those vehicles.

"So what do you think?" Tavia asked him breaking his concentration.

"Well I think this would be a lovely place to stay." He said. "However we've been fooled before by hot food, and a beautiful field. So don't expect us to warm up immediately."

"Oh I don't. Well anyway if you guys are going to stay here you're going to have to pull your own weight." Tavia warned.

"That, we can handle." Kenny replied.

"All right, when you're ready have everyone head to Joe's place. You know the mechanic? He'll set you up."

She waved as she headed down the hill and back to base. Kenny remained where he was to take one last look around. The place was wonderful to look at. The bases fence would stop any walkers from getting in. Tavia and her people had blocked the back and side entrance. Leaving the main gate as the only access point. It seemed safe enough. However Kenny knew he couldn't get too comfortable here. Katjaa was still out there. He couldn't stay sheltered in a place like this without her by his side. He wouldn't give up until he found her.

As he walked down the hill, he found himself thinking of the others as well. Even Lilly came to his mind, but only for a brief moment. Hopefully they were all still together….. and alive for that matter.

* * *

"Oh my…. I just… can't believe we found you!"

"Can't…. breath….. dying….." Clementine struggled to say.

"Oh sorry." Said Omid as he released her. "I'm just so glad you're okay."

"I can't believe we actually found you." Said Katjaa as she came in for her hug.

"Where's Duck?" Asked Clem noticing the woman was alone.

"Oh we got separated, but I'm sure he's fine." She replied.

"So did Lee find you?" Asked Lilly from behind everyone else.

At this Clementine went cold.

"Ye….s" She stuttered to say.

"Oh well where is he?" Lilly asked.

Clementine looked to the ground. There was a brief moment of silence afterward.

"Oh." Said Travis breaking the silence. "Well how'd it…."

"We don't need to know." Katjaa interrupted as she kneeled over to Clementine's level. "The important thing is we found you."

Clementine gave her a weak smile, before noticing Lilly had disappeared.

"So this was your old group huh?" Adam spoke for the first time since they walked in.

"Oh, and who is this?" Asked Christa.

"My name's Adam." Replied the boy.

"Well for such a young boy you seem to handle that rifle pretty well." Travis stated.

"Well like my dad once told me." Replied Adam. "In times like these you're never too young to learn."

"Hey man come look at this." Called Omid as he stood by the radar device.

"Yup look's to be military. I should know my dad was…"

"In special forces!" Interrupted Christa. "Yes we all know that."

"Well anyway." Continued Travis. "It's pretty basic radar equipment. However nowadays any kind of technology is useful. I think we should take this with us." He stated.

"Hey that's mine!" Protested Adam.

Clementine walked toward the exit, as Adam and the adults discussed what to do with the radar equipment. Lilly wouldn't have gone far. Most likely she was just outside the fence. For some reason the news about Lee had hit her harder than it had the others.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what that reason was.

* * *

Lee watched as their "guest" engorged himself. The already skinny boy had become even slimmer. He was almost skeletal. From far Lee could have mistaken him for a walker.

"So Ben." Lee inquired. "Guess you haven't eaten much since Savannah huh?"

Ben put the can he was currently working on down so he could properly answer Lee.

"Well yes and no." He answered.

"Hold on before we get into that." Molly stated. "I want to know how you are even alive? Lee told me you ran into a room full of walkers to save Christa."

"Yeah I did." Replied Ben. "I actually accidentally fell through a laundry chute. Or was it a trash shoot. Anyway. I slid down into the basement which was surprisingly walker free. From there I made my way onto the street and just kept running until I was out of Savannah."

"So how'd you survive after that?" Lee asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Replied Ben.

"Come on Ben. There's no way you survived on your own."

"Hey I'm more capable than you think?" Ben protested.

"Uh huh capable. Like capable of stealing food from people without them catching you?" Asked Lee in return.

"All right. Yes a few days later I ran into these three people. They were nice enough to let me travel with them." He stated.

"While this is all nice and good." Interrupted Vince. "We have to move soon."

"Yeah" Added Wyatt. "We're burning daylight and we… err you guys still haven't found anything."

"Their right." Molly added. "There's nothing in this field. We should get a move on."

Once Ben finished eating Lee passed him his share of the load and the group began to look for greener pastures.

A small smile made its way on to Lee's face as the group continued to walk across the field. First they found a clue as to Clementine's whereabouts, now Ben come's back from the dead. Things were looking up…. For now anyway.

* * *

"You the mechanic?" Asked Kenny in obvious shock.

"The one and only around here." Replied Joe.

"How old are you son?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" Joe asked back.

"Not really I just don't think a twelve year old should be handling cars." He replied.

"I'm twenty one, and there ain't nothing about motors or engine's I don't know about. But that's not why ya'll came here." He stated.

"No." Said Carley who was standing next to Kenny. "We were told you would assign us work."

"Well before I do I need to know what you guys are skilled at." Joe stated.

"Well I know my way around an engine." Stated Kenny "I was a fishermen."

"Well boat's and car engines are relatively similar, and I wouldn't mind having an apprentice help me out with repairs."

"Apprentice?" Kenny asked obviously not to thrilled with the idea of taking orders from a boy nearly half his age.

"I'm a straight shot and Doug's good with tech." Said Carley.

"We could always use another patrol, but tech ain't really available nowadays." Replied Joe.

"Well I'm willing to do any job you have available." Replied Doug.

"Hmmm…. Any job?" He asked.

Doug nodded. "Any job."

"All right I'll have something for you to do later this evening." Said Joe. "How about you?" Joe asked as he pointed directly to Mark.

"Well I was in the Military. I know plane engines, but not that well." He replied.

"Can you cook?" Joe asked.

"Well enough." He replied.

"Good we only have one "chef" here I'm sure she would love to have some help."

"What about me?" Asked a little voice from behind the group.

Joe hadn't even noticed the young boy. He certainly didn't have a job for him.

"We don't really have use for a kid. In truth I haven't seen one since the outbreak."

"Don't worry Duck; I'm sure we can find something for you to do." Kenny stated.

"Now about being your apprentice." He said as he redirected his attention to the mechanic.

"You got a problem with that?" Joe asked.

"Not entirely, but I won't be here for too much longer." He stated.

"What do you mean?" asked Duck. Kenny knelt down so his head was level with his son.

"You know I still have to find your mother and the others." He stated. "The rest of us talked it over. I'm going back out as soon as I'm ready but I'll return in a few days."

"I'll come with you." Duck pleaded.

"No, son I can move faster by myself." Kenny assured him.

"Tell you what kid." Joe butted in. "Since your dad can't be my helper, the job's now available."

Duck nearly jumped for joy. "Really?!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah sure I can show you how an engine works." Stated Joe.

"Oh boy! I'm gonna build my own car!"

"Maybe one day." Stated Joe. "Anyway now that you got you're assignments head over to Tavia. She's usually at the Staff sergeant's office. She converted it into her own."

Kenny nodded and the group began to head that way. Before they were out of ear shot however Joe called out.

"Oh and Doug…. Meet me at the latrines after dinner for your…. Special assignment."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Asked Clem once she caught up with Lilly.

"Yeah I'm fine." She replied. Though it would have been more convincing had she not been wiping a tear off her face as she said it.

"It's my fault. If I didn't leave he'd still be alive." Clementine stated.

"No Clem. You thought you were going to find your parents. No one can blame you for that." Lilly responded.

"But I was stupid. I should hav…."

"Listen to me." Lilly said as she stooped down and placed her hands on Clementine's shoulders. "You're safe so Lee didn't die in vain. You can't live in the past."

"Thank you." Clementine replied. "You shouldn't feel bad either. I think…." She began before hesitating.

"What is it Clem?" Asked Lilly.

"Well sometimes when he looked at you….. I think he liked you, you know like liked you." She stated.

Lilly gave her a smile before she reached in for a hug. "Thanks Clem, I like liked him too."

As they separated Clementine noticed something strange yet vaguely familiar on Lilly's left hand.

"Um did Lee give that to you?" She asked.

"What? Oh this!" replied Lilly as she pointed to her left hand. "Yes, right after… um how'd you know?"

"He showed it to me one day after they came back from the pharmacy. He said it was his mother's." Replied the little girl.

"Oh, He told me if….. he survived we'd need this." Lilly stated.

"Really!? That would have been beautiful I mean it would be like my….."

"Hey girls." Interrupted Travis.

"What is it Travis?" Asked Lilly.

"It's getting dark. We have to get a move on." He replied.

"What about Adam?" Clementine asked.

"He's coming with us." Replied Travis.

"Well that's good. Come on Lilly." Clementine called as she went to join Travis and the others.

The older woman walked right behind her. Clementine thought for a moment. Just a day prior she had been with a group led by a psychopath. Now she was back with her old friends.

She recalled something Katjaa had said after they were forced out of the Motor Inn by the people in the woods. _Where did yesterday go? _She had said.

Clementine smiled because at this point, she couldn't care less where yesterday went.

She was just glad it was gone.

* * *

"So where do we go from here?" asked Ben.

The group had stopped at a crossroads. One led more toward the North where Clementine's group supposedly were headed. The other would eventually get them to Atlanta.

"Well we gotta keep heading north. Find Clementine." Said Lee.

"Wait a second. Now I think we should go to Atlanta." Vince suggested.

Lee turned to him in confusion. "Why?" He asked.

"Because I have friends there. Or at least I had friends there. Plus it's a big city; I bet they have some kind of survivor camp or something." Said Vince.

"If it's anything like the one we had in Savannah then I want nothing to do with it." Molly stated firmly.

Lee thought for a moment. Perhaps Atlanta did have some kind of community, but he was not about to risk entering another high populated area. Savannah was bad enough. Atlanta could have been a hundred times worse.

"We should keep north; keep to the countryside, away from any major cities." Said Lee.

"Yeah that sounds best man." Said Wyatt. Vince nodded though Lee could tell part of him wanted to go where he may have found some friends. Something about that conversation however seemed too familiar.

"It's just I'd rather go to Atlanta and know if their okay rather than not go and never know." Vince stated as they began to move again.

"That's it!" Lee shouted causing the whole group to come to a halt.

"What's it? Is something wrong?" Ben asked.

"That's who you remind me of. There was another Asian we met in Macon during the first days of the outbreak. He had friends in Atlanta as well." Lee said to Vince.

"What was his name?" Vince asked back. He seemed a bit too eager.

"Glenn, why?" Lee replied.

"Glenn! He's alive!?" Vince asked. His voice was now bordering hysteria.

"Well I don't know, I mean he was alive about five months…." Lee began before Vince approached him.

"Where is he? Have you talked to him since then?" He asked.

"Well no. He said he was going to see if his friends survived the outbreak. I haven't seen or heard from him since." Lee responded.

"Why is this so important to you?" Molly asked from beside Lee.

Vince walked over to the sign in the road.

_Atlanta seventy three miles_

"If he headed for Atlanta then that's where I'm going." He stated finally.

"You must know this guy pretty well to want to trek over seventy miles to find him." Said Wyatt.

"Well I should know him pretty well." Replied Vince. "He is my brother."

* * *

"This new lot makes our total number at 13." Said Tavia.

"That's still not enough." Replied Gregory. "This base is huge. I mean sure we've sectioned off this small area, but still there could be walkers on the other side place for all we know."

"We patrol the perimeter once a week and haven't found any weaknesses in the fence. Trust me nothing got through there." Tavia Replied.

"Nothing yet anyway. Still we should be back out there as soon as possible. We need more people, plain and simple."

"I know and we'll find more, but we just got back after being out there for almost a week. Let's get these new guys settled first and then head back out there." Tavia suggested.

"Fine." Gregory reluctantly agreed.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Come in." Tavia said after hearing someone banging on the door.

The small office door slowly creaked open, revealing five bodies on the other side.

"We ain't interrupting anything are we?" Asked Kenny.

"No we were just finishing up." Replied Tavia.

"Yeah I'll see you later." Said Gregory as he began to depart. "Now kid, I'm just leaving. I don't have my gun on me, no need to bring out the pipe." He said in a slightly joking manner as he walked by Duck.

"Hey my son was just protecting us." Replied Kenny.

"Please I'm just blessed that your son didn't break a rib." Stated Gregory as he departed.

"So did Joe set you guys up?" Asked Tavia when only the six remained in the room.

"Oh yeah, I get to work in the auto shop!" Duck nearly shouted in reply.

"Oh, well that's great." Tavia replied.

"So why are we here anyway?" Asked Kenny.

"You're here to turn over your guns." She replied.

The group obviously didn't take kindly to that statement.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Kenny.

Tavia turned to a large piece of paper which showed an outline of the entire base.

"All guns and explosives are to be kept in the Armory at all times." She stated as she showed them where the Armory was. "That's the rule. If you guys want to stay here than you're going to give me your guns now."

"And what if we don't." Kenny asked back.

"Then I'll politely ask you to leave. If that doesn't work believe me we'll get you out of here." She replied.

"Why do we have to give up our guns?" Asked Doug in a calm voice.

"It's how we keep each other safe. If everyone simply carried their guns around then we'd be in risk of the possible shootout between each other. We've had fist fights in the past, and that's how we'd like to keep it. Plus those things are practically dinner bells to any walker within a fifty mile radius. We've lasted this long because we've kept both the violence and the noise down. So once again please surrender all guns." She stated firmly.

For a moment there was an awkward silence. Tavia bit her lip. She had no gun on her. She had dropped it off at the armory when she came back. If they didn't listen to reason than things could get very dangerous for her. Five people with weapons against a single unarmed woman. She didn't like those odds.

Fortunately she wouldn't have to test them as Mark approached slowly with his wheelchair. He rested his hand gun on the table in front of her, and then reaching down grabbed a double barrel shotgun from underneath the chair.

He then wheeled back to the rest of the group without saying a word.

"Well I guess this makes sense." Doug stated as he mimicked Mark's actions. Carley was next and then Duck went to drop off his lead pipe. However Tavia stopped him.

"Just guns honey, any other weapons you guys can keep." She stated.

Finally Kenny came and handed her his revolver, but she refused him as well.

"Not you." She stated.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why?" Asked a confused Kenny.

"You're heading back out there right?" She asked him.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Then you'll be a scout like I was. You'll need a gun." She stated.

"Now hold on, I'm going back out there to look for my wife, not to add numbers to your little community here." He replied.

"I know, but while you're out there if you see anyone you can simply direct them to us. We'll do the rest." Said Tavia.

Kenny stroked his rather large mustache.

"I don't know." He stated.

"We'll give you food and supplies enough to last two weeks. Even if you don't bring back anybody it'll be fine. However I expect you to at least try." She stated.

Kenny took a moment, but then reluctantly agreed.

"Great now that you're all set, follow me." Said Tavia as she headed for the door.

"I'll show you where you'll all be sleeping."

* * *

"I guess this is goodbye then." Lee said to Vince.

"Hopefully it's a see you later." He replied.

"Yeah it's not often we find people we actually enjoy being around." Wyatt stated.

Wyatt should Lee's hand and then Vince did the same. It reminded him of how he and Glenn departed so it only made sense to give him a similar send off.

"Find your brother." He stated.

"Thanks Lee." Vince said in almost the same tone as Glenn hand. "I hope and pray you find your friends." He replied.

"Thanks." Lee stated. With that the group was split. Wyatt and Vince headed toward Atlanta to find Glenn, while Lee and his group continued to head north to find Clementine….. and if possible the rest of the gang.

* * *

"You sure this enough food for two weeks?" Kenny asked Tavia.

"The foods' dehydrated just add water." She replied. "Of course you could get some hot food tonight and be off in the morning."

"Thanks, but I'm rested and ready to get back to finding my wife." Kenny stated.

"Okay, it's your choice." She stated.

"You will find her, right dad?" Asked Duck who was currently standing next to Tavia.

Kenny kneeled down so he was on eye level with Duck. "I'll check every nook and cranny until I do. That's a promise." He told him.

He reached out and hugged his son before standing back up.

He turned to Tavia.

"Don't worry he'll be safe here." She stated.

"I ain't worried." He replied before waving goodbye to Duck and heading out the front entrance.

He wasn't lying when he said he wasn't worried. He had already instructed Carley and Doug to watch after Duck while he was gone.

Once he had gone a good distance he took out the map which he always had with him. They had come up from Savannah and travelled mostly northwest since then. He doubted that the rest made it as far as he had.

The smartest path now would be to go southwest. According to the map there was a rather small town about fifteen miles southwest of this place. He knew Christa was done with cities. However as Katjaa had informed him before they separated, the tall strong woman did have a baby on the way. A nice small town may have been just what she was looking for.

* * *

**Thanks to all who made it too the end. Anyone other than me think that Vince is Glenn's brother? For my further thoughts on that theory you can check out Vince's bio at my YouTube channel. It's Feedingfrenzy91 just like here. God bless you all!**


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